ARTICLES ABOUT OATH BY DATE - PAGE 5

WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury indicted seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens on Thursday on charges of lying to Congress when he repeatedly denied under oath he had used anabolic steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. According to the indictment, Clemens "well knew" he was trying to hide the truth from a House oversight committee in 2008 when he said: "Let me be clear. I have never taken steroids or HGH (human growth hormone). " If convicted, the former ace for the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Yankees and Astros faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.

I'm not a fan of "frickin'". As a substitute for what we delicately refer to as the f-word it's too close, too blatant, to be a truly mild oath. Yet it's close enough to the original to sound juvenile rather than powerful. Ditto flippin', forkin', freakin', frakkin', friggin' and effin'. So I wasn't particularly amused by the sketch toward the end of "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend in which the host and guests of a biker-chick cable TV show dropped "frickin' " three or four times into every sentence.

Natallia Thornton chose her words carefully as she explained the pride of being able to support herself in the United States. The 29-year-old said that in her home country, Belarus, she would not have had the same opportunities that she has had since moving here five years ago. "You would either have to have connections or have wealthy parents," said Thornton, who lives in Woodridge and operates a freight logistics business. "Here, you can be a self-starter." Thornton was one of about 200 immigrants from 52 countries who became U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony at Cantigny Park in Wheaton.

Washington The head of battered insurance giant AIG told Congress on Wednesday that "we've heard the American people loudly and clearly" in their rage over executive bonuses, and he appealed to employees to return at least half the money. Testifying under oath at a congressional hearing as intense as any in recent memory, Edward Liddy said some workers already have stepped forward to give money back. ---------- FROM NEWS SERVICES

By Peter Nicholas and Christi Parsons, Washington Bureau and Tom Hamburger and Julian Barnes of the Washington Bureau contributed to this report | January 22, 2009

In his first full day in the White House, Barack Obama pushed his top military advisers for a plan to withdraw combat troops from Iraq, and in an extraordinary exercise took the oath of office a second time over concern about a miscue during his swearing-in. Obama retook the oath before a handful of aides in the White House Map Room -- 31 hours after he spoke the words before more than a million people arrayed on the Mall. In the first go-around, Chief Justice John Roberts botched the wording, deviating from the language in the Constitution.

When Chief Justice John Roberts and technically-already-President Barack Obama misfired their way through the oath of office on Tuesday, it joined the ranks of other great ceremonial flubs. Live! offers a look back: In 1981, blushing bride Lady Diana mixed up her groom's multiple names during the wedding ceremony, calling him calling him "Philip Charles" Arthur George, rather than "Charles Philip." In 1929, Chief Justice William Howard Taft administered the oath of office to Herbert Hoover.

On Wednesday, even Vice President Joe Biden -- no stranger to awkward public-speaking moments -- took a shot at Chief Justice John Roberts for bungling the presidential oath of office. As Biden was preparing to swear in a new batch of White House staffers, he joked: "My memory is not as good as Justice Roberts', Chief Justice Roberts'." There were other unkind cuts, including the nickname given by the New York Post in its inaugural coverage: "Oaf of Office." But Roberts seemed to be taking it in stride, according to a report from the Legal Times.

President Barack Obama took the oath of office Tuesday outside the Capitol, as millions watched in person and on TV. He took it again Wednesday night -- this time in the privacy of the White House, with only a handful of aides and reporters looking on. The reason: During the inauguration ceremony, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. stumbled over the oath's opening words, and Obama repeated the incorrect wording. The second time around, they both got it right. The president's lawyer and constitutional experts agreed that taking the oath a second time was unnecessary.

The two men standing Tuesday on either side of Abraham Lincoln's Bible are both known for their eloquence, but they managed to turn the swearing-in of the president of the United States into a bit of a bobble. So, who mixed up the oath? Swearing in a new president for the first time, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. stumbled over the opening words of the oath. President Barack Obama, realizing the minor miscue, paused and then followed the chief justice in repeating the right words slightly out of order.

Aretha Franklin will sing, Rev. Rick Warren will pray and as many as 4 million visitors are expected to be on hand during President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in Jan. 20. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, on Wednesday announced the official program. Musical selections (beginning at 10 a.m. EST): The U.S. Marine Band The San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus Call to order and welcoming remarks: Feinstein Invocation: Warren of California's Saddleback Church Musical selection: Franklin Oath of office: administered to Vice President-elect Joe Biden by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens Musical selection: John Williams, composer-arranger Itzhak Perlman, violin Yo-Yo Ma, cello Gabriela Montero, piano Anthony McGill, clarinet Oath of office: administered to President-elect Barack Obama by Chief Justice John Roberts at noon EST Inaugural address: by Obama Poem: Elizabeth Alexander Benediction: Rev. Joseph Lowery The national anthem: The U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters